Review: 'Is This Thing On?' explores stand-up as catharsis, but finds hope in strong performances by Laura Dern and Will Arnett

Love’s a funny thing, and so is divorce in “Is This Thing On?,” a shaggy comedy-drama from director Bradley Cooper that gives a rare leading-man spotlight to Will Arnett as a guy who finds a unique avenue for turning his life around.

Arnett plays Alex Novak, who has a finance job that we almost never see him do. Mostly we see him hanging out with his irresponsible actor friend, nicknamed Balls (and played by Cooper), and Balls’ overly understanding wife, Christine (Andra Day). Sometimes Alex’s wife, Tess (Laura Dern), is there, but that may soon change — because Alex and Tess are in the process of getting a divorce.

Cooper, who reworked a script by Arnett and Mark Chappell, presents the mechanics of the Novaks’ parting in a matter-of-fact style. There’s no precipitating incident, no screaming arguments, no revealed infidelity. It’s just two people who have decided, quite rationally, that the marriage has run its course. 

What we’re here to see is the aftermath. That starts when Alex, alone on a New York night, goes into a bar and learns that the way to get around the $15 cover charge is to sign up to perform stand-up comedy on open-mic night. He gets onstage without a prepared act, and starts unloading about his impending divorce. He gets a few mild giggles from the audience, but the experience is cathartic, and he wants more.

(The movie is based, loosely, on the story of English comedian John Bishop, who tried stand-up to cope with his own divorce. Americans might know Bishop from the short season he co-starred on “Doctor Who,” near the end of Jodie Whittaker’s run as The Doctor.)

While Alex is turning open-mic night into his personal therapy sessions, Tess is trying to figure out what’s next in her life. A former Olympic volleyball player, Tess is considering getting back into the sport as a college coach. The notion draws some attention, particularly from another coach, Laird, who might also be a potential romantic interest. (Laird is played, in an unusual bit of casting, by NFL legend Peyton Manning, who’s surprisingly not bad at this acting thing.)

Cooper spends most of the movie’s first half showing Alex building up his stand-up set, and his resilience to lukewarm crowds. The cast is populated with some real comics, and includes Amy Sedaris as the comedy club’s nurturing owner, who encourages Alex to dig deeper for his comedy.

The second half gets more interesting, as Alex and Tess finally have the heavy discussions they should have had earlier — about how their marriage fell apart and how they’re still strongly attracted to each other.

Some elements in “Is This Thing On?” fail spectacularly, and none harder than Cooper’s own performance as Balls, whose clearly limited acting talent is overwhelmed by his unjustly placed confidence in himself. It’s perhaps the most blatant act of cinematic self-sabotage I’ve seen in ages.

But it’s hard to stay angry when Dern and Arnett are on their game. Separately, they present a fascinating dichotomy in post-divorce coping, with one spiraling and the other blossoming. Together, they make one feel that love just might conquer all.

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‘Is This Thing On?’

★★★

Opens Friday, January 9, in theaters everywhere. Rated R for language throughout, sexual references and some drug use. Running time: 121 minutes.